Armed Forces: Unsolicited Mail

Lord Astor of Hever: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Mark Francois) made the following Written Ministerial Statement on 14 September 2012 (Official Report, col. 19WS-20WS):
	I wish to inform the House about the annual unsolicited mail campaign the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be running in the lead up to Christmas (which is 100 days from this Sunday).
	This Government are dedicated to the care and welfare of the men and women of our Armed Forces, particularly those deployed on operations, which is reflected in the comprehensive deployed welfare package. A key part of that package is ensuring the timely delivery of free personal mail from family and friends. Whilst unsolicited mail is well-intentioned, mail sent by families and friends is the most important to deployed personnel and is our absolute priority. Moreover, unsolicited mail sometimes strains the logistic supply chain and can prevent other mail from families from getting through. BFPO estimates it will handle approximately 22,500 parcels per week during the eight-week period between mid-October and mid-December, more than twice the normal demand. This can impact on personal mail, causing severe delays. Also delivering packages over the final mile to forward bases puts increased pressure on essential in-theatre resources.
	It is for these reasons that the MoD will be repeating its unsolicited mail campaign. Its success last year reduced the volume of unsolicited mail by half compared to previous years. Key to the success of this campaign is encouraging the British public to show their support through one of the recognised MoD service charities. All service personnel on operations over Christmas will receive a seasonal gift box from the charity, uk4u Thanks!. This charity works closely with the MoD, using free space in the existing supply chain to deliver the boxes well before Christmas, without impacting on the normal mail system.
	I recognise that it might seem counter-intuitive to ask the British public not to send parcels to troops at Christmas, but to avoid the impact of unsolicited mail and to help prioritise mail to service personnel from their families, I ask for your full support in directing the public towards MoD recognised charities.